Cake: Have it. Eat it. Choose One.

Maggie Gallagher says it exactly right over at The Corner, where she addresses the Bailout.

Here’s my take: The ongoing bailout of banks and business executives is not only wrong, it is deeply, deeply unpopular. By taking potshots at executives–their salaries, their corporate jets, their redecorated offices–Obama hopes to deflect the unpopularity of his actual policies onto his opponents. He wants to channel voters’ entirely justified anger at the executives’ naked appeal for our cash towards the people who appear to defend them (because they are actually defending capitalism).

This way Obama can turn business executives into another Democratic interest group–and make Republicans pay the political cost. Expect very big campaign dollars flowing into Democrat coffers by scared, scared executives. A little public ritual humiliation in exchange for billions? Yeah, quite a few will go for that. Riding a car to DC should not earn your failed corporation a taxpayer bailout. It’s still wrong.

Defending the right of the free market and the goodness of business as an enterpirse [sic] is all true, but right now it’s besides the real point, and so plays into Obama’s hand.

The point is that these are failed business executives seeking taxpayer dollars to bail them out.

Republicans should be the ones making Obama pay for bailing out wealthy business failures with OUR money.

She’s right. It’s Obama, not the Republicans, who are trying to turn businesses into government clients with taxpayer money. If people are angry about it, it’s the guy who’s pushing it who should get the blame.